Jean-Claude Dupla

Experimental Evaluation of the Pore-Access Size Distribution of Sands

A simple experimental method is presented for evaluation of the pore-access size distribution of sands and, more generally, of cohesionless granular materials. The water-retention curve of a sand specimen is evaluated using a technique similar to the hanging column method (ASTM 2008) [ASTM D6836: Standard Test Methods for Determination of the Soil Water Chararcteristic Curve for Desorption Using a Hanging Column, Pressure Extractor, Chilled Mirror Hygrometer, and/or Centrifuge, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2008] by application of a step-by-step variation of suction and measure of the corresponding changes in water content. The pore-access size distribution is then evaluated from the water-retention curve using the Young-Laplace law, which links the suction to the pore-access radius. The efficiency of this experimental method is demonstrated by studying the influence of various parameters such as the shape and the size of the grains, the spreading of the grain-size distribution, and also the relative density of the specimen on the pore-size distribution.

A discrete element study of settlement in vibrated granular layers: role of contact loss and acceleration

This paper deals with the vibration of granular materials due to cyclic external excitation. It highlights the effect of the acceleration on the settlement speed and proves the existence of a relationship between settlement and loss of contacts in partially confined granular materials under vibration. The numerical simulations are carried out using the Molecular Dynamics method, where the discrete elements consist of polygonal grains. The data analyses are conducted based on multivariate autoregressive models to describe the settlement and permanent contacts number with respect to the number of loading cycles.

Effect of Geotextile Reinforcement on Shear Strength of Sandy Soil: Laboratory Study

Abstract This paper presents results of a series of undrained monotonic compression tests on loose sand reinforced with geotextile mainly to study the effect of confining stress on the mechanical behaviour of geotextile reinforced sand. The triaxial tests were performed on reconstituted specimens of dry natural sand prepared at loose relative density (Dr = 30%) with and without geotextile layers and consolidated to three levels of confining pressures 50, 100 and 200 kPa, where different numbers and different arrangements of reinforcement layers were placed at different heights of the specimens (0, 1 and 2 layers). The behaviour of test specimens was presented and discussed. Test results showed that geotextile inclusion improves the mechanical behaviour of sand, a significant increase in the shear strength and cohesion value is obtained by adding up layers of reinforcement. Also, the results indicate that the strength ratio is more pronounced for samples which were subjected to low value of confining pressure. The obtained results reveal that high value of confining pressure can restrict the sand shear dilatancy and the more effect of reinforcement efficiently.

Physical modeling of load transfer in reinforced soil by rigid inclusions

Abstract An experimental study has been carried out at CERMES on 1 g physical model made up of reinforced soil by a rigid inclusion. Loading tests were conducted at a prescribed rate of displacement by using a rigid disk. The experimental work focused on the effect of thickness and grain size distribution of the mattress material on the load transfer between the rigid inclusion and compressible soil. The variation of cover ratio has been also analyzed and the composition of compressible soil as well. Obtained results indicate the increase of cover ratio from 2.22 % to 8.88 % leads to 100% increase of efficiency and the settlement reduction is 50%. The variation of mean diameter of mattress material from 2.5 mm to 12 mm clearly led to an increase of efficiency equal to 90% and settlement reduction of 25%.

Undrained Monotonic Response and Instability of Medium-Dense Sandy Soil

A series of undrained monotonic triaxial compression tests were performed on natural, medium-dense (relative density (RD) = 50%) Chlef sand containing 0.5% of non-plastic fines, under different confining pressures of 50 kPa, 100 kPa, and 200 kPa. This article focuses on distinctive states of the monotonic undrained response of sands, namely the critical state, the phase transformation state, the quasi-steady state, and the state of undrained instability (onset of flow liquefaction). Specimens were prepared using dry funnel pluviation and wet deposition to investigate the effect of the initial sand fabric on these states. The present data suggest that the initial fabric of the sand appears to have a significant effect on the undrained behavior in the early stages of shearing, with its influence vanishing at large strains. Wet deposition specimens demonstrate considerably larger undrained instability state strength than their dry funnel pluviation counterparts, and a unique critical state locus is reached by both dry funnel pluviation and wet deposition.

Laboratory assessment of saturation and sample molding effects on shear resistance and mechanical characteristics of sandy soil

In order to evaluate shear resistance characteristics of sand, which has previously experienced liquefaction, two series of drained and undrained monotonic triaxial compression tests on medium dense sand were carried out. In the first test series, the influence of the specimen preparation method and confining pressure has been studied. It was found that there was a marked difference in the behavior even though the density and stress conditions were identical. The conclusion was that the soil fabric was responsible for this result. In the second series of tests, the saturation influence on the shear resistance of the sand was examined. The results showed that the decrease in Skemptons pore pressure coefficient B improves the shear resistance and increases the friction angle of the sand.

Physical Model for Studying the Migration of Fine Particles in the Railway Substructure

To study the interlayer creation and the mud-pumping phenomena in the conventional French railway substructure, a physical model was developed with a 160-mm-thick ballast layer overlaying a 220-mm-thick artificial silt layer (mixture of crushed sand and kaolin), both layers being compacted in a transparent cylinder of a 550-mm-inner diameter. One positive pore water pressure sensor, three tensiometers, and three time domain reflectometer (TDR) sensors were installed around the ballast/silt interface allowing the evolution of pore water pressure (negative or positive) and volumetric water content to be monitored, respectively. A digital camera was installed allowing direct monitoring of different movements (ballast, ballast/subsoil interface, etc.). The effects of loading (monotonic and cyclic loadings) and degree of saturation of subsoil (w = 16 %, Sr = 55 %, and near-saturation state) were investigated. It was found that the development of pore water pressure in the subsoil is the key factor causing the migration of fine particles, hence, resulting in the creation of interlayer, as well as mud pumping. In particular, the camera exposed the pumping up level of fine particles during the test, showing that the migration of fine particles was not only a result of the interpenetration of ballast particles and subsoil, but also of the pore water pressure that pushed the fine particle upward. The quality of the recorded data showed that the physical model developed worked well and the test protocol adopted for studying the mechanisms of intermixing of ballast and subsoil and mud pumping was appropriate.

Undrained behaviour of polypropylene fibre reinforced sandy soil under monotonic loading

ABSTRACT Soil improvement using fibres is widely used in soil stabilisation to prevent sand liquefaction. In order to study the undrained behaviour and liquefaction resistance of sand reinforced with polypropylene fibres, a series of triaxial compressive tests were conducted on unreinforced and reinforced Chlef sand with different contents of polypropylene fibres (0, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8%). Samples were prepared at 30% and 80% relative densities representing loose and dense states respectively, and triaxial tests were performed at confining pressures of 50, 100 and 200 kPa. Tests results show that fibre inclusion has a significant effect on the shear strength and dilation of sandy soil. The increase in strength is function of fibre content, relative density and confining pressure. The maximum strength improvement for both loose and dense fibre-reinforced sand is more pronounced at higher confining pressure and at higher fibre content.

Experimental Study on a Scaled Model of Offshore Wind Turbine on Monopile Foundation

Offshore wind turbines are slender structures with sensitive dynamics, strongly influenced by soil-structure interaction. The structure is subjected to cyclic and dynamic loads with frequencies close to the first natural frequency of the offshore wind turbine. To avoid resonance phenomenon due to external excitations, it is essential to precisely evaluate the initial first natural frequency of the wind turbine and its long term evolution. The present work deals with the design and analysis of a scaled model of an offshore wind turbine with monopile foundation. This study is aimed at experimental evaluation of the initial first natural frequency of this scaled model, followed by the comparison of experimental results with those obtained from the existing analytical models.

Laboratory Study of Local Clay-Pile Friction Evolution for Large Numbers of Cycles

This work aims at investigating the evolution of local friction mobilized at the pile-soil interface, focusing on small amplitude and large number of displacement controlled cycles, corresponding to fatigue behaviour (10^5 cycles). An experimental program has been conducted in a calibration chamber with an instrumented pile-probe installed and loaded in reconstituted specimens of saturated clay.